The best in crab cooking, from salads to entrees

San Francisco
— Dungeness Crab, Maryland Blue Crab and Alaskan King Crab -- they all were there at San Francisco's Pier 39 for the Fifth Annual Crab Cooking Olympics in more than a hundred dishes from professional chefs. They came from North and South, East and West Coasts as well as inland -- from all over North America.

Top honors for the best in crab cooking went to Vancouver's Andreas Kern of the Westin Bayshore Inn for his table of five dishes starring fresh crabmeat in each one.

The five different categories were: Crab Soup, Crab Nouvelle Cuisine, Deviled Crab, Crab Salad, and Chef's Choice. Thirty professional chefs from across the country and Canada competed.

There were crab dishes, hot and cold -- plain and some very fancy -- many combined with fruits and herbs, others garnished with sauces, and some pristine served cold on lettuce leaves and other greens.

The various sauces for crab were flavored with tarragon, curry, and spinach; other dishes included combinations with baby corn, Chinese snow peas, avocado, and orange. There were crab cakes and crab cooked Chinese style, and a few so highly decorated it was difficult to tell what they were.

The chefs arrived toting ice-packed trunks of their favorite local crab -- along with special pans, cookware, and of course their special recipes.

A panel of judges headed by Chef Louis Szathmary used the point system set up by the National Culinary Institute for the international food olympics held in Germany.

Chef Kern received the highest honor, Maitre Chef de Cuisine, for scoring the highest number of points in three out of five categories. Awards were presented for first, second, and third place in each category, and additional trophies were given for outstanding presentation.

Another Vancouver chef, Ron Lammie of Umberto's restaurant, won first place in the Nouvelle Cuisine category and a first place Embarcadero Award for Culinary Excellence.

Harry Hoffstadt, American Federation of Chefs, Chicago, won first prize in the Deviled Crab category and Richard Slater, Marty's, Dallas, Texas, won first place in the Crab Salad category.

Peel apples, cut off top, and remove core. With a melon baller, remove the rest of the center, leaving about 1/2 inch of bottom. Cut the apple pieces into little cubes and mix them with 1 ounce lemon juice, and the crabmeat.

First Place in the Chef's Choice Category was won by by Chef John W. Kaufman, director of food service, Washington National Insurance Company, Morton Grove, Ill. He also won first place in the Crab Soup category.

Brush pan and rolls with some of the melted butter, bake until 3/4 done. Cut roll in half and place crabmeat mixture on rolls.

Top each with 2 slices of green pepper, 2 cherry tomatoes, and a slice of Muenster cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and remaining butter. Bake in warm oven until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with paprika.